36,200 Shares in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Purchased by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 36,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $971,000. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.06% of Orion as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the third quarter valued at about $214,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Orion by 91.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,375 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 5,428 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Orion by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 47,261 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 10,413 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Orion by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Orion by 21.8% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 24,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,445 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Orion from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Orion from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Orion Price Performance

Orion stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $25.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 388,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,547. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 1.62. Orion S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $28.48. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $23.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.11). Orion had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 21.07%. The company had revenue of $502.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be issued a $0.021 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. Orion's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.41%.

Orion Profile

Orion SA, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of carbon black products. It operates in two segments, Specialty Carbon Black and Rubber Carbon Black. The company offers post-treated specialty carbon black grades for coatings and printing applications; high purity carbon black grades for the fiber industry; and conductive carbon black grades for batteries, polymers, and coatings.